Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Leanne Donaldson says claims made by Member for Hinchinbrook Andrew Cripps stating that the Palaszczuk Government has cut funding to Sugar Research Australia (SRA) are false.
Member for Hinchinbrook Andrew Cripps continues to perpetuate the myth that the Palaszczuk Government has cut funding to Sugar Research Australia (North Queensland Register 28 July).
There has been no cut to the Queensland Government’s annual contribution to the organisation.
This year the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries will provide $2.85 million to the SRA, a figure consistent with core funding in previous years for sugar research projects.
Last year DAF invested approximately $850,000 with SRA for a series of specific research projects to find a solution for Yellow Canopy Syndrome and the Palaszczuk Government's commitment to assist the organisation fight the syndrome remains resolute and consistent.
We are pleased to make a considerable contribution to the $27 million the SRA receives to fund its research activities, which includes further contributions from industry and the Federal Government.
Mr Cripps is fully aware that on June 30 this year a fixed-term four-year funding initiative with SRA was completed.
That funding was always intended to run for a limited time and has reached its conclusion.
I can only conclude therefore that Mr Cripps’s comments are a smokescreen to draw attention from the terrible damage the LNP's meddling has caused in the sugar industry: meddling that has been heavily criticised by the Productivity Commission and must be a source of extreme embarrassment to Mr Cripps’s Party.
We warned re-regulation of sugar marketing would be a retrograde step and clearly the Productivity Commission draft report supports the stand we made to protect thousands of jobs in the sugar industry and millions of dollars of investment by millers.
When the LNP was in power it made brutal cuts to Biosecurity Queensland, closing facilities, shutting down programs and dismissing 26 per cent of the staff who protect cane farmers and other primary producers from pests and diseases.
We are investing heavily to restore Queensland’s biosecurity capability which was so badly damaged on the LNP’s watch.
Last month we announced $10.8 million over years to begin implementation of recommendations from the Biosecurity Capability Review, bringing our total commitment to improve capability to more than $30 million.
It should be clear that when it comes to matters of biosecurity, and claims about cuts, neither Mr Cripps nor the LNP can be trusted.
Leanne Donaldson
Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries
